'Yellow Submarine' Graphic Novel Celebrates Movie's 50th Anniversary

Bill Morrison/Titan Comics

Titan Comics is releasing the adaptation of the psychedelic Beatles film.

It’s the 50th anniversary of the release of Yellow Submarine, the psychedelic animated feature inspired by — and featuring appearances from — the Beatles, and to mark the occasion, Heat Vision can exclusively debut artwork from Titan Comics’ upcoming comic book adaptation.

(Technically, it's 50 years since the British release; the U.S. got the movie some months later.)

The feature — the final Beatles movie to be released while the band was an ongoing concern — follows versions of John, Paul, George and Ringo (voiced by John Clive, Geoffrey Hughes, Peter Batten and Paul Angelis, respectively; the real Beatles make a live-action cameo at the end of the movie) as they travel to Pepperland to save it from the joyless Blue Meanies. A classic of its time, its stylized animation would go on to influence future projects from Monty Python’s Flying Circus to Sesame Street and The Electric Company.

Titan’s adaptation, written and illustrated by current Mad Magazine editor (and co-founder of Bongo Comics alongside Matt Groening) Bill Morrison, will be released as a 112 page hardcover graphic novel Aug. 28. Morrison, along with inker Andrew Pepoy and colorist Nathan Kane, will discuss the project at San Diego Comic-Con on Sunday at 10 a.m. in Room 25ABC.

Until then, turn off your mind, relax and float downstream to the preview of the book, below.